Not long ago, Captain America and Black Widow had just rescued the Winter Soldier from a HYDRA base. The Winter Soldier's affiliation with HYDRA was undeniable and confirmed.
As for Crossbones Rumlow, although there was no direct evidence proving he was with HYDRA, he had been working with the Winter Soldier to capture Captain America.
He had also captured Captain America in an elevator at the Triskelion before.
It was highly likely that he was HYDRA as well.
Of course, it couldn't be confirmed one hundred percent, but this was just a quiz, and it didn't need to be completely confirmed. Determining the likelihood of a conclusion was enough.
"What about Nick Fury? Isn't he HYDRA?" Dr. Banner asked, glancing at Black Widow and the others.
"Director Fury is definitely not HYDRA," Hawkeye Barton immediately stated firmly.
"Why are you so certain?" Dr. Banner questioned again. "Agent Romanoff, you said before that HYDRA had infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D. so badly. You didn't know who to trust. So how can you be sure that Nick Fury is innocent?"
Captain America pondered for a moment before speaking seriously to Dr. Banner, "Ever since I was revived, Nick Fury has been battling HYDRA."
"Is that all?" Dr. Banner shook his head. "That's not enough."
"Dr. Banner, you're right, we don't have any other evidence to prove Nick Fury isn't a HYDRA agent. We can't even prove that Captain isn't one either, but I want to believe him! I also want to believe Captain."
Black Widow spoke up in a low voice, "Because if even Nick Fury and Captain are HYDRA, then this world is too dark. It wouldn't be worth living in."
"Dr. Banner, from a scientific perspective, your doubts are correct."
Tony Stark also chimed in, "But as of now, there's no evidence to suggest that Nick Fury and Captain are HYDRA."
"So, let's temporarily assume they aren't HYDRA! Because none of us here can prove we aren't HYDRA, including you and me."
"Fine!" Dr. Banner nodded, convinced by Tony Stark. "So we have two 'candidates.' Any way to rule them out?"
"Bucky can be ruled out." Captain America pondered for a moment, then spoke in a low voice.
"Why, Cap? Why are you so sure! This isn't the time for sentimentality." Tony Stark immediately asked sharply from the side.
"Bucky is an assassination agent, mostly asleep in a cryogenic chamber. I don't think Bucky would be deployed for this kind of handover mission," Captain America explained.
"We don't know what the Scepter is. What if it's something important?" Tony Stark continued to question.
"No, Stark, the Captain is right! The Winter Soldier used to be HYDRA's ace assassination agent, a ghost! He hasn't left any traces in fifty years!" Black Widow chimed in.
"This kind of person wouldn't openly appear in Stark Tower, because that would be the same as exposing himself."
Compared to the others, Black Widow's explanation was more convincing, and Tony Stark didn't say anything more.
"So, for this question, choose B, Crossbones Rumlow?" Thor glanced at the big screen and asked tentatively, "Isn't that a bit too simple?"
"It is a bit simple." Hawkeye Barton nodded. He proposed a new perspective, "I think we overlooked something before. Those who say 'Hail HYDRA' to HYDRA agents aren't necessarily HYDRA themselves."
"You mean…" Black Widow immediately understood something, looking at Barton.
"Yes! That's what I mean!" Hawkeye Barton also immediately realized what Black Widow understood and nodded immediately.
"You two, stop speaking in riddles, okay?" Thor, however, didn't understand anything and asked, looking at the two of them.
"If someone from S.H.I.E.L.D. knew in advance that Jasper Sitwell was a HYDRA agent, and they pretended to be HYDRA themselves to achieve a certain goal, thus saying 'Hail HYDRA' to the other party, Barton, is that what you mean?"
Captain America also understood Hawkeye's meaning.
"Right, that is indeed a logical possibility." Tony Stark turned his gaze to the big screen. "Then, based on this possibility, we also have two 'candidates': Nick Fury and Captain America."
"I think we can rule out Director Fury," Hawkeye Barton considered, then made his choice.
"The question specifies that this happened inside Stark Tower, not in some private setting. This suggests that Jasper Sitwell's HYDRA identity hasn't been exposed."
"In other words, publicly, Jasper Sitwell is still a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent!"
This made perfect sense. After all, HYDRA's identity was extremely sensitive, so a public place would require a S.H.I.E.L.D. cover.
"Then Director Fury, as the head of S.H.I.E.L.D., could just order his subordinate to hand something over. He wouldn't need to use any 'secret code'."
Hawkeye Barton spoke eloquently, and his analysis was quite reasonable.
"There's one condition: Jasper Sitwell can't know that Nick Fury is already aware of his identity!"
"But what if Jasper Sitwell already knew his identity was exposed, knew Nick Fury was going to take his Scepter, and planned to resist, to tear off the mask?"
Dr. Banner once again posed a questioning hypothesis.
"And Nick Fury, seeing the situation deteriorate, came up with a plan, pretending he was also a member of HYDRA, and thus said 'Hail HYDRA' to Sitwell."
"This possibility should also exist, right?"
Everyone at the scene was at a loss for how to refute Dr. Banner, because what he said was indeed logical.
If Nick Fury really discovered that Sitwell was about to tear off the mask and stubbornly refuse to return the Scepter, pretending to be HYDRA was something he could completely do.
That old man, oh no, Director Fury, was a cunning old fox!
"Dr. Banner, you truly are a scientist, your thinking is indeed meticulous, not letting go of any possibility." Tony Stark patted Dr. Banner on the shoulder.
"But no matter what, there's a possibility for Nick Fury's actions that we can rule out, but for Captain America, there isn't."
"So, if we have to eliminate one of the two, it's naturally Nick Fury."
Dr. Banner didn't have any objections to Tony Stark's words and just shrugged his shoulders, saying nothing more.
"So, same as always!" Thor said, looking at the big screen, "Two hypotheses, two answers!"
"If that sentence was said by someone from HYDRA, choose Rumlow. If that sentence was said by someone from S.H.I.E.L.D., choose Captain America."
"Is there a way to eliminate one more between Rumlow and Captain America?"
Everyone on the scene started racking their brains again, thinking.
"I just put myself in the shoes of Rumlow and Captain, respectively, and imagined it in the context of the situation. I think Captain makes more sense."
Hawkeye Barton spoke to everyone after some thought.
"Barton, we're listening!" Tony Stark gestured to Hawkeye Barton.
"The people from S.H.I.E.L.D., at least on the surface, were in the elevator at Stark Tower with the Scepter. Obviously, the Scepter was in transit."
"Most likely, the Scepter was being moved from Stark Tower to S.H.I.E.L.D., but other possibilities can't be ruled out."
"It doesn't matter which scenario it is, but S.H.I.E.L.D. has a standard configuration for transporting important items: a commander plus a Rapid Response Unit."
"You also mentioned before that Jasper Sitwell is a commander in the future, and Rumlow happens to be the captain of the Rapid Response Unit."
"Just right, they're a perfect combination."
"Jasper Sitwell is responsible for safeguarding the Scepter, while Rumlow and his Rapid Response Unit provide security."
"Then why did Jasper Sitwell hand the Scepter to Rumlow alone? That doesn't quite follow procedure!"
"Perhaps some unexpected events occurred," Thor said to Hawkeye. "Accidents always happen in life."
"Of course, accidents can happen, and we can't guarantee that they won't," Tony Stark shrugged.
Then, his tone shifted. "But compared to Captain America, at least there's a reason to exclude Rumlow. That's enough."
Even though the reasons for excluding Rumlow weren't entirely solid, as they say, this isn't about scientific research, so they don't need to be 100% correct.
As long as there's a reason to make everyone choose between Rumlow and Captain America.
Now that Rumlow has a "stain," the possibility of choosing Captain America is naturally higher.
"And after I put myself in Captain America's shoes, it made a lot more sense," Hawkeye Barton spoke again.
"Captain America got the news that the Scepter was about to fall into HYDRA's hands, so he wanted to retrieve it."
"But in the elevator, Captain America wanting to retrieve the Scepter meant he had to take down an entire Rapid Response Unit at the same time."
"That would have made too much noise, and there was a risk of failure, which wasn't conducive to the mission. So, Captain America said 'Hail HYDRA' to Jasper Sitwell and tricked him into giving up the Scepter."
"That makes perfect sense!" Thor almost applauded Hawkeye Barton. "So, the answer to this question is clear. It's Captain America, right?"
Everyone else agreed with Thor's conclusion.
Considering the roles, Crossbones Rumlow seemed somewhat unreasonable, but Captain America seemed to fit perfectly in every situation.
Comparing the two, the choice was naturally Captain America.
"So, who will answer this question?" Dr. Banner glanced at Black Widow and Hawkeye.
Everyone else present had already answered, leaving only Black Widow and Hawkeye.
Black Widow and Hawkeye exchanged a quick glance, discussed it, and reached a consensus.
"I'll answer," Black Widow said, turning to the big screen to give her answer. "I choose C, Captain America, Steve Rogers!"
[Answer Correct!]
"YES!" Black Widow couldn't help but be secretly pleased.
[Congratulations to the respondent, Natasha Romanoff, for receiving a Senzu Bean as a reward!]
[The reward has been issued, please check your inventory!]
The system immediately issued the corresponding reward to Black Widow. Everyone saw a green bean appear in her palm.
It wasn't the kind of thing they had subconsciously assumed, some kind of synthetic creation, but rather a bean that looked like it had come from a plant.
"Natasha, this little bean is the Senzu Bean? I thought it was some kind of seed I didn't recognize," Hawkeye Barton said, looking at the unassuming little bean.
"Barton, Senzu Beans are indeed miraculous seeds!" Black Widow explained to Hawkeye Barton.
"So, what does this little bean do?" Tony Stark asked curiously, and then cracked a very, very cold joke, "Won't it turn you green if you eat it?"
"Stark, that joke isn't funny at all," Dr. Banner said, a little speechless.
"What a group of people with no sense of humor," Tony Stark shook his head.
"Stark, it's very similar to your previous healing potion. It can instantly heal a person's body! No matter how serious the injury, as long as they're not dead, eating it will restore them to their peak condition."
"This is a good thing!" Hawkeye Barton nodded in satisfaction.
For field agents like them, who were always in harm's way, getting injured was commonplace, and they often faced life-threatening dangers.
With this thing, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say they had a second life.
According to Black Widow, unless you lose consciousness and die on the spot, as long as you have a breath left and can get it in your mouth, it can save your life.
"It's not just that, after eating a Senzu Bean, you don't need to eat for ten days," Black Widow added.
"So amazing? As expected of a Senzu Bean!" Dr. Banner exclaimed with admiration.
"But there's one thing, the Senzu Bean can only heal injuries, but it can't cure diseases. If a person isn't injured but sick, eating the Senzu Bean is useless."
Black Widow added.
But this wasn't really a problem at all. If it was just an illness, who would be so foolish as to waste such a precious Senzu Bean?
Of course, terminal illnesses were an exception.
But the probability of people suffering from terminal illnesses wasn't high to begin with.
Black Widow happily put away the Senzu Bean.
[Answer submission complete, now playing the answer analysis!]
With this system prompt, the text on the big screen began to disappear, and an image appeared.
Everyone present refocused, turning their attention back to the big screen.
-------------
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(End of Chapter)